Achlys looked up at her grandfather with terrified eyes. Every muscle in her body was tense as she slowly got to her feet. Her muscles were still shaky from being electrocuted. She took her hand away from her face to show a large, scorched scar like a spider’s web next to her left eye.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjLsJghbgMR
Memories of being exposed to dangerous chemicals for her to reproduce as a child flashed in her mind’s eye. Remembering waking up the day night her mother died from a nightmare, only to find it real. Her mother a clammy corpse in her bed, father beaten and sobbing next to her.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡawFzIdkvhc
She never watched it happen, but she remembered the image her mind crafted of seeing her mother in Zeus’ place.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWr9SkIu2xS
Achlys remembered her father telling her she’d be next if they didn’t run from her grandfather, only to be called together for a family meeting. Her grandfather’s cold, alien eyes glaring down at her like she was a curse.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡunmYbgTUWh
Kronos’ voice snapped Achlys back to reality.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8HLBDLzEdF
“All the effort I put into taming you and you attempt to destroy my energy reserves. You’re a traitor, Achlys. You’re so disloyal to your own family. Don’t you remember what I told you would happen if you ever turned against me?”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDa12ZHZuBb
“I remember,” Achlys choked out.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGHBm29Sp76
“You did cause anarchy at the palace and cause the fall of PISTOL, so at least you fulfilled your purpose before you scarred my creation and began to burn my fuel.” He gestured to Abyss and the land around them. “But now, I have no reason to keep you around.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP2PkuhTMx5
Achlys was trembling and tears stung her eyes. “He... he’s not yours.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqBpR2fcuMx
“What?” Kronos stood up taller, towering over Achlys, nearly twice her size.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMgrLUUajvg
“A-and I’m not either.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6BxxeoSksw
Kronos clenched his teeth and growled in frustration, lifting his hand to strike Achlys across her already injured face.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW9A2jaAT31
She was blown a yard away from the blow and a small line of neon green steam came up from her cheek, flowing steadily to Kronos’ face. He breathed in deeply, eyes turning from a cold grey to a menacing black.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFOoFmeanOx
Coughing, Achlys choked back a sob. Her past had finally come for her before she could finish her destiny, before she could ensure the safety of the universe. She thought the hardest part of everything was over multiple times over now.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6uJFk9DYkz
She thought Abyss was okay, but then he disappeared and left her behind. She thought she’d found him and be able to reason with him, but Volt came back and turned him against her. She thought she’d dealt with the one coming between her and her plans, but it just made Abyss come after her. She thought she’d dealt with Abyss and done away with any barriers or emotion that would keep her from global devastation. Instead, she was faced with an indestructible wall.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGUBKaATkxD
She was staring down death.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc0h5mfzWJ4
He finally caught up to her.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJEl1dVqdRh
The moment she dreaded facing every day over the last decade.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo1z1Mxgoml
Kronos slowly approached Achlys again. “Get up.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ47ZdjKWXWH
Achlys closed her fists around a handful of ash and shook. Tears soaked the ground below her. “Please...” Achlys whispered her plea.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHD0myctN5K
What am I doing? Please what? Please spare me? You were planning to turn the planet into a wasteland where you’d rot away slowly. You planned your own death. What makes this any different?82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj0dXzDbrlX
“I said get up!” Kronos demanded, kicking her curled up from across the ashes and dirt.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfhHSqxkAcQ
It took all her strength to finally obey. She saw no point in sitting around to be killed.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4tSlOyuV4B
Kronos sneered mockingly, alien features communicating a sense of superiority. He again began to approach her. He reached down and grabbed her neck, lifting her with two fingers as she gasped for breath.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB4R4jfieEw
“No- no-” she meekly protested.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdUAMD9sNsq
She felt her breath begin to be drawn from her body. The neon color seemed to flake away from her hair and the green streak began to turn white, shortly after the black hair followed. He lungs strained for breath and her vision blurred as the red fire in her eyes faded back to a deep green before it began to fade to an empty white.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXEASOPYrd7
Every muscle in her body seized up, desperate to flee but too afraid that they restricted their own movement.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuHgPdwDoul
But then electricity surged through Kronos and Achlys respectively. The two let out cries of pain. The draining stopped and as the shock faded, Achlys was dropped to the ground where she saw Abyss grasping Kronos’ ankle.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSjjHJqK3zb
Abyssal’s eyes stopped sparking and settled on the pure black color that signified his power at work.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0AO3HBZjLg
“Abyss?... What are you doing?”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzLuW5SMaEe
“Saving you,” he answered firmly just as Achlys faded into unconsciousness.
* * *
Achlys woke up in a hospital, the steady beeping pulse of a heart monitor sounded behind her.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxBbDNM72Um
“How come you were able to be electrocuted multiple times without any powers and live, but he has to be gone?”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRiIRgdSgOC
Achlys’s eyes travelled to Abyss sitting at the bedside with his back turned to her.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqQMeR0XAE8
“How did you know I was awake?”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiVYhCuYFE6
He just shrugged. “I can sense everyone’s lifeforce now... and I can’t feel others. I don’t know how or why.” He still wouldn’t look at her.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLKhKGsjU2D
There was a long moment of silence before Achlys spoke again.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWh5qzgtAOY
“Why did you save me?”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIeln5pT3Xe
“Sometimes people just save other people, even when they shouldn’t.” 82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw1ves7BBNi
Achlys didn’t know what to think of that. She knew she didn’t deserve to be saved. She thought she was dead. She thought she’d killed Abyss, and she did kill his brother. But it still didn’t make sense why. She stared at the plain, grey floor.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAFuBl0k6Gh
“Thank you.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPQj4Ke3Dvu
No response.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVLuMNGhpd5
Achlys felt clamps lock around her heart.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcs52bErOmS
“And...” she added, “I know it doesn’t help anything... but I’m sorry. I didn’t plan to kill him.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ14tKClA4Eo
“But you did. Twice.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡisvCXbZd9g
Achlys winced. She deserved that. She knew she did.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzWpajKZvm0
“I saved you because you happened to be there. Enemy of the enemy. Kronos had to be stopped, whether you were involved.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnXfoWyS6lO
“How did you stop him yourself?”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ66QOoaD60v
“I had a head start. Not much you can do once you’re locked down by devour.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxmv2e7G8Yp
“You can say that again.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7BKOUMzdrN
Achlys saw Abyss’ shoulders tense.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ILgTAGjH7
His tone was quieter when he spoke again. “How did it feel?”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0LnjJj6Ng5
Achlys’ eyes widened and she grabbed her right arm. “It... was worse than I ever imagined.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4RkoYc47A3
“You’ve imagined yourself in that position?”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzZk0dkICw3
“...More times than I can count.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUyuUHaxxFW
Abyss turned around at last and looked at Achlys in the hospital sheets.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGTif4az2eA
“Why?”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1RI76nsGZt
“Kronos was the famil patriarch. I was in the line destined to kill him.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz59rnidARs
Abyssal’s eyes fell to the corner of the bed. It was obvious he felt awkward looking at her. Achlys wished he didn’t.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ83LZuQgtfS
“Why do you ask?”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyVx6ayr4Ce
“I... It was my power. It hurt others, but I never knew how bad it was.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfYOmIucfFY
“We’ve both hurt people with our powers. I just wish I could undo it. I wish I could bring him back for you.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaOkppIWYFH
Suddenly, the lights flickered and the monitor flatlined before everything powered on again. But for Achlys, the strange occurrence only became worse. The echoes of Volt’s dying screams repeated on an overlapping loop in her mind. She gripped her head and stared at the sheets, curling up into the fetal position.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡztcxQzeKei
“Achlys? Achlys?” Abyss said, growing worried.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv8rN6opytp
Achlys didn’t hear him. The sound was growing to a crescendo. It was deafening. The screams pierced her ears and began to melt her brain. The world around her continued to flicker the way it did as the electricity fried Volt’s nervous system.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXgfywXrdUI
Abyss touched her shoulder, and she jumped away as the earth split below them. A green light rose up and the ghost of Volt appeared. He was still tied to the chair screaming. Abyss leapt away in terror as he stared up, helpless at his brother for just a moment before the earth sealed itself again and he vanished.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzdbh9m9hWz
“What was that?” Abyss asked, sitting on the ground at staring at the space where he literally saw a ghost.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdQbgzSjtkz
“I- I don’t know,” Achlys stammered. “I think... it was my father’s power.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ75OweaL0kR
“Hades?”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBG2A0sm9FN
“Abyss,” Achlys said astonished, “I think we could bring them back.”
THE END
-To Be Continued-
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